Capella Hotel Group has appointed Roland Fasel as President, effective 6 April 2026, naming one of luxury hospitality’s most credentialled operational leaders to steer the Singapore-based group through its most ambitious growth phase to date. Fasel takes the helm nearly nine months after Cristiano Rinaldi departed to rejoin Marriott International as Chief of Lodging Product and Services Officer for Asia Pacific, a tenure gap that underscored the deliberateness with which Capella approached the succession.
Fasel brings more than 30 years of international luxury hospitality experience to the role, with a career spanning some of the industry’s most iconic properties and brands. Most recently, he served as Group Chief Operating Officer at Maybourne Hotel Group, overseeing an estate that includes Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley, The Maybourne Beverly Hills and The Maybourne Riviera – a portfolio that sits at the apex of global luxury. Prior to Maybourne, he spent six years as COO at Aman Resorts between 2017 and 2023, managing the brand’s global operations through one of its most expansive periods, including landmark openings at Amanyangyun in China, Aman Kyoto in Japan and Aman New York.
His earlier career reads as a roll call of trophy properties. He served nine years as General Manager of The Dorchester and as Regional Director UK for the Dorchester Collection, overseeing Coworth Park and 45 Park Lane during the collection’s formative years. Before that, he led an $80 million repositioning of Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz, returning the historic property to profitability and market leadership. His career began with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in the United States, followed by progressive roles across Southeast Asia, culminating in his first General Manager assignment with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.
In his new role, Fasel will oversee both Capella Hotels and Resorts and Patina Hotels and Resorts, maintaining brand integrity across the existing 12-hotel portfolio while spearheading the group’s stated objective of doubling that portfolio by 2030. The group currently operates six Forbes Five-Star properties and has been named Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Hotel Brand for three consecutive years, from 2023 to 2025. The challenge ahead is not prestige – that has been firmly established – but geographic diversification at pace and at standard.
The pipeline confirms the ambition. New openings in Kyoto, Nanjing and Tianjin are either imminent or underway in 2026, with Patina also advancing in the region. Beyond Asia, Capella has confirmed projects in Riyadh, Florence and NEOM in Saudi Arabia for 2027 and 2028, markets where Fasel’s Aman-era experience in the Middle East and his European operational roots give him a meaningful advantage. Branded residences form another pillar of the growth strategy – a Residences Club in Seoul is planned as a prelude in 2026 ahead of a full residential project in 2028.
“Roland brings the rare combination of strategic vision and operational expertise to lead Capella Hotel Group through its next chapter of growth,” said Evan Kwee, Vice Chairman of Capella Hotel Group. “He has transformed iconic properties by elevating both culture and performance – proving that excellence in luxury hospitality is both an art and a discipline.”
Rinaldi’s five-year presidency was defined by consolidating Capella’s identity and building its award-winning reputation; the portfolio grew from four properties in 2020 to ten by the time of his departure. Fasel inherits that foundation and faces the harder task of scaling it without diluting it – a test that his career, in both its depth and breadth, appears well designed to meet.
